Author: Ed Lingao

JOURNALISTS, STUDENTS, and human rights advocates laid 153 mock coffins at the doorstep of Malacanang Palace on the third anniversary of the worst case of election violence in the country that killed 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers.

Each of the mock coffins represents a mediaman killed in the line of duty since press freedom was restored in the Philippines in 1986, supposedly making the country the freest and most democratic society in asia, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)

The coffins were laid along Mendiola bridge to commemorate the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, an event that sealed the country’s reputation as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. More importantly the coffins are meant as a reminder to President Benigno S. Aquino III that his government has not done enough to solve the problem of impunity in the country.

On November 23, 2009, a convoy bearing the supporters of then Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu and accompanied by mediamen, was stopped allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan along the national highway. The convoy was on its way to the Maguindanao capital, Shariff Aguak, to file Mangudadatu’s election papers.

The convoy was then diverted to a remote hilltop two kilometers from the main highway, where 58 members of the convoy were murdered. Some of the bodies were dumped into open pits, along with their crushed vehicles.

On the third anniversary of the massacre, concerned media groups issued a unity statement assailing the slow pace of the case, and Malacanang’s apparent disinterest in moving the case forward. The groups also decried the support given by both the administration and opposition parties to Ampatuan family members who have filed their certificates of candidacies for the May 2013 elections. At least 72 Ampatuans are running in next year’s balloting, 34 of them under the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), nine others, under President Aquino’s Liberal Party.

Media organizations also reminded President Benigno S. Aquino III of his commitment to seek reforms in the rules of court in order to help speed up the prosecution of the case. Aquino was also reminded of his promise to crack down on loose firearms and on private armed groups in the country.

The President was also reminded of his pledge to strengthen the Witness Protection Program, and form quick-reaction teams to investigate and prosecute media murder cases.

*At least 14 (mediamen) had been murdered during the administration of Mr. Aquino,” said the unity statement read by Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s Executive Director Malou Mangahas. “Of the total cases, only 10 cases have won partial convictions. No mastermind has ever been brought to trial.”

Moreover, the media groups lamented the President’s apparent fondness for proposals to curtail press freedom. The groups cited the President’s seeming refusal to push the Freedom of Information bill through Congress, even as he has voiced his preference for the Right of Reply bill and signed into law the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

“Aside from the killings, Mr Aquino has consistently exhibited a penchant for proposals to curtail press freedom and freedom of expression.”

The marchers gathered at the Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City, and then marched in a procession to historic Mendiola to lay the coffins on the bridge leading the Malacanang. The 153 mock coffins took up the entire lane of the bridge, testament to the huge number of journalists killed since press freedom was restored, following the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolt.

 

JOURNALISTS, STUDENTS, and human rights advocates laid 153 mock coffins at the doorstep of Malacanang Palace on the third anniversary of the worst case of election violence in the country that had killed 58 people, including 32 mediamen.

Each of the mock coffins represents a mediaman killed in the line of duty since press freedom was restored in the Philippines in 1986, supposedly making the country the freest and most democratic society in asia, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)

The coffins were laid along Mendiola bridge to commemorate the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, an event that sealed the country’s reputation as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. More importantly the coffins are meant as a reminder to President Benigno S. Aquino III that his government has not done enough to solve the problem of impunity in the country.

On November 23, 2009, a convoy bearing supporters of then Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu and accompanied by mediamen, was stopped allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan along the national highway. The convoy was on the way to the Maguindanao capital, Shariff Aguak, in order to file Mangudadatu’s election papers.

The convoy was then diverted to a remote hilltop two kilometers from the main highway, where 58 members of the convoy were murdered. Some of the bodies were dumped into open pits, along with their crushed vehicles.

On the third anniversary of the massacre, concerned media groups read a unity statement assailing the slow pace of the case, and Malacanang’s apparent disinterest in moving the case forward. Furthermore, concerns have also been raised over the support given by both the administration and opposition parties to Ampatuan family members who have filed the certificates of candidacies for the 2013 elections. At least 72 Ampatuans are running in the 2012 elections, 34 of them belonging to the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and another 9 belonging to the Liberal Party.

Media organizations also reminded President Benigno S. Aquino III of his commitment to seek reforms in the rules of court in order to help speed up the prosecution of the case. Aquino was also reminded of his promise to crack down on loose firearms and on private armed groups in the country.

The marchers gathered at the Welcome rotunda in Quezon City, and then marched in a procession to historic Mendiola to lay the coffins on the bridge leading the Malacanang. The 153 mock coffins took up the entire lane of the bridge, testament to the huge number of mediamen killed since the freedom of the press was restored after the Edsa revolution.

 

THE UNITED NATIONALIST ALLIANCE (UNA), a political coalition of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Laban ng Pilipino (PDP-LABAN) and the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), has firmly denied a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism that it has endorsed at least 34 candidates bearing the Ampatuan name in the 2013 local elections.

UNA Secretary General Toby TIangco made the statement on the 3rd anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre, where 58 people including 32 journalists were murdered allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan.

TIangco stressed that as Secretary General, he has not come across any certificate of nomination and acceptance of any member of the Ampatuan clan.

However, when told by the PCIJ that the PCIJ report Ampatuan Jr sells 8 big properties; 72 Ampatuans running in 2013 was based on a list furnished by the Commission on Elections, Tiangco said that it was possible that the Ampatuans in question were endorsed by their member-parties, the PDP-Laban or the PMP, and not by the coalition itself.

When the PCIJ reminded him that the UNA is precisely just a coalition of the PDP-Laban and the PMP, and that both parties were listed by the Comelec as having endorsed Ampatuan family members, Tiangco replied that there were some decisions made by the parties in the local level that were not approved at the coalition level.

“It’s very complicated in the local level,” Tiangco said in a phone conversation with the PCIJ.

The PCIJ report, based on the reports filed by municipal and provincial election officers based on the certificates of candidacy filed by those running in next year’s elections, showed a slew of candidates bearing the last or middle name Ampatuan under the banners of either the ruling Liberal Party, or the opposition coalition UNA.

The Comelec list showed that 34 Ampatuans were running under parties that make up the UNA coalition: 18 under the PDP-Laban and 16 under the PMP.

Another 9 Ampatuans were running under the Liberal Party of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

The report has caused an outcry among human rights groups and families of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.

On Thursday Liberal Party chairman Franklin Drilon said he will have the endorsement of any member of the Ampatuan clan revoked by his party.

Tiangco said he will check with their member parties if they have in fact endorsed Ampatuans at the local level. Tiangco however said that the UNA will not revoke an endorsement of any Ampatuan just on the basis of the name.

In fact, Tiangco said, UNA will not revoke any endorsement of an Ampatuan even if he or she is the spouse of one of the accused in the massacre. The PCIJ report showed that the wives of principal suspect Zaldy Ampatuan and Andal Ampatuan Jr were running for a second term under the PDP-Laban.

Tiangco said they will only revoke an endorsement if that Ampatuan was directly involved or implicated in the massacre.

 

FILIPINO JOURNALISTS would not have to worry about the Right of Reply bill pending in Congress if they practice fair and balanced reporting in the first place, says President Benigno S. Aquino III.

The President made the remark in the sidelines of a conference by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas in Tagaytay City, according to a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The President’s remark comes amid growing outrage in the media community over Malacanang’s failure to push the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill through Congress, even as the Palace sends mixed signals on the Right of Reply bill.

The Inquirer report indicated that the Palace position on the Right of Reply (ROR) bill is that journalists would not have to worry if they make certain that their stories are fair and balanced to begin with.

“The same spirit hews closely to our position on the issue of right of reply. As (the Bible) says, the truth will set you free. If two sides of a story are reported, if the details of every news are accurate and the freedom of all Filipinos to form their own opinion is valued, then any journalist has nothing to worry about, isn’t it,” the President was quoted by the Inquirer as saying.

The Inquirer story may be read here.

The President’s statement comes just a week after a Palace Communications Office official said that Malacanang was supportive of the Right of Reply bill provided it does not encroach into the freedoms of expression and the press.

Media organizations have opposed the ROR bill filed by Rep. Rodolfo Antonino, claiming it violates freedom of the press and encroaches on editorial independence. The ROR bill provides that officials who feel slighted in media stories may demand free equal airtime and print space of the same prominence from media organizations.

Interestingly, media organizations have also accused Antonino of filibustering during the last House Committee on Public Information hearing, resulting in the failure of the committee to act on the long pending Freedom of Information bill.

 

A crime against the people by the House of Representatives – and by President Benigno S. Aquino III and the ruling Liberal Party.

This was how the Philippine Daily Inquirer described Monday’s aborted hearing on the FOI bill by the House Committee on Public Information in what amounts to the most strongly worded editorial on the FOI by mainstream media.

In its Wednesday editorial entitled “House hypocrites,” the Inquirer decried the “calculated incompetence” of the committee in allowing Rep. Rodolfo Antonino to hijack the hearing to complain about procedural issues. Antonino effectively used up most of the committee’s time, preventing it from discussing the measure itself.

Then, at the stroke of four in the afternoon, Antonino moved to have the hearing adjourned, citing a rule imposed by the House leadership that Congressmen may not skip plenary sessions unless they have special permission from the Rules Committee. Interestingly, the session itself was cancelled later that day because of the absence of a quorum.

In its editorial, the Inquirer said the Aquino administration and the Liberal party should be held at least partly responsible for what happened to the FOI, as the President has effectively taken a hands-off approach on the measure even though he had made it part of his presidential campaign in 2010.

“What happened the other day (or rather, what did not happen) amounts to a crime against the people,” the Inquirer said. “It is a crime in which the Aquino administration and the Liberal Party, which came to power in 2010, are complicit.”

The editorial noted how the administration coalition in the House could run with “enviable efficiency when it wants to,” or when the President gives clear marching orders. Palace spokesmen the other day said that the President was taking a hands-off policy on the FOI now that the measure was being deliberated on by Congress.

“The House leadership and the administration it works closely with, do not want the FOI cause to advance,” the editorial stated.